This invention relates to the wet quenching of coke in coke producing plants and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for the wet quenching of coke wherein the steam generated in the quenching process is condensed, cooled between quenching operations, and reused.
Known apparatus for the wet quenching of coke includes a quenching tower wherein a quenching car loaded with hot coke is moved into the tower and sprayed from above with water. The steam generated in the quenching operation is then condensed in the quenching tower by a spray of condensation water. The hot mixture of condensate and water is collected in the quenching tower between the upper condensation spray apparatus and the lower quenching water spray apparatus and removed to a collection tank. The collection tank is designed to be a heat exchanger for a heat pump whereby the heat of the hot condensate-water mixture is extracted and utilized for the evaporation of coke plant effluents. The cooled condensate-water mixture is then conducted back into a collection tank where it is reused as the steam condensation water in the quenching operation.
This kind of heat recovery although desirable is often economically impractical because of the relatively high investment costs involved. On the other hand, it is undesirable to let the steam generated in the quenching operation which contains undesirable gases from the hot coke to escape into the surrounding air as in conventional quenching towers. In addition, the large amounts of condensate accumulated in the quenching tower, which may be many times greater than the amount of the quenching water used, cannot be discharged directly from the operation because of its relatively high temperature of about 85.degree. C. As a result, it has heretofore been necessary to provide special apparatus for cooling the condensate, for example, in a heat exchanger even if no recovery of the heat of the condensate was obtained in order to use the cooled condensate-water mixture again as condensate water in the quenching operation.